Kvyat looking forward to 'nice and classic' Red Bull Ring layout

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Danill Kvyat will race for the fourth time this year for Toro Rosso as he heads into the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.

The Russian now has an equal amount of races split between Red Bull Raing, where he started the 2016 season, and Toro Rosso, with the hope of improving on his current tally of 22 championship points, practically all of which were scored with the Milton Keynes outfit.

Due to a rear suspension failure on his Toro Rosso, Kvyat missed out on achieving a good result in Baku, so Austria - a second home race for the energy drink company's F1 teams - will hopefully provide him with an opportunity to improve his scorecard.

"The Red Bull Ring is a nice and very classic track," said the Russian.

"It’s a high-speed dominant circuit, even though the first couple of corners are a bit slow. Definitely Turn 2, which is the slowest corner of the circuit – but still require a lot of technique.

"The high-speed corners are also very interesting. Turn 5 for example is a very fast downhill corner, it drops a lot, so you need to really feel the car and how much the downforce is changing while you’re driving down that section.

"I’d call Turns 6 and 8 “brave corners”, as it’s all about how much speed you can carry through there and it definitely tests the driver’s confidence!

"Another thing that comes to mind about Turn 8 is that it’s quite bumpy and tricky to get right because it’s difficult to tell where the car limit is there.

"The last corner also has quite a big drop in altitude, which is great. I think this track is pretty cool; it’s one of those layouts that you’d like to see more often on the calendar."

Toro Rosso just announced that it has extended the contract of Carlos Sainz but Kvyat's position for next year remains unclear, although Helmut Marko did suggest that the 22-year-old still had a strong chance of remaining with the junior squad next season.

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.